


the kids are (not) alright

by Hectopascal



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Gen, nate not being super concerned for his own life, nathan drake's terrible coping mechanisms: the series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-22
Updated: 2016-09-22
Packaged: 2018-08-16 17:38:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8111368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hectopascal/pseuds/Hectopascal
Summary: Nate has never even imagined his life without Sam being at least a distant, badly influencing part of it. Now he learns to live the reality.





	

For a handful of seconds that feel like hours, Nate seriously thinks about it. The bullets whizzing through the air all around him and the sound of them impacting with the hot concrete he’s lying on fade away as he considers just… following Sam down.

The fall would most likely kill him, but if it didn’t then he’d break something, no question. Possibly multiple somethings. Maybe his legs, maybe his back, maybe his neck. Probably not his neck, though, he’s not that lucky. But (positive thinking is key here) he’d get to die right next to his big brother, so that’s a plus.

He actually starts leaning forward, bracing himself to go for it, when he freezes, shakes his head, and shoves himself to his feet to follow fucking Rafe towards the boat and relative safety. His tunnel of focus expands to recognize angry men yelling in Portuguese and gunshots and the sudden spike in his heartbeat as his body gets a shot of adrenaline. The rest of the world is too much to deal with right now so he doesn’t look at it, think about it, or attempt to process it—he just runs.

It’s not that he has something to live for, or that he’s worried about the people he’d leave behind (just Sully, and he’s pretty sure Sully would get over it), and it isn’t that he’s scared to take that final leap, or long-buried religion resurfaced to remind him that suicide is a sin.

He just remembers, in that split second decision between _not yet_ and _jump now,_ that Sam would never want him to and he’s feeling oddly more biddable to his brother’s desires than he usually is simply because Sam isn’t there to enforce them.

Sam isn’t ever going to be there again, Jesus Christ.

He gets shot twice during the (too long, not long enough) sprint for freedom, but it’s just a graze both times; not that bad. He doesn’t land right when he hits the water after sliding off the cliff so it feels like taking a sledgehammer to the stomach and face _at the same time_ but even that’s still easier to handle than the other blows he’s taken today.

When he pulls himself to the surface, Rafe won’t be able to tell if he’s crying or if his face is just wet.

Nate isn’t sure himself. For all that he can tell every part of him is hurting, he mostly feels numb.

Sam’s gone. He’s _gone_.

It doesn’t seem real yet.

**Author's Note:**

> *dips a toe into the uncharted fandom and scurries away*


End file.
